


a fever you can't sweat out

by FantasySwap, obnoxiousq



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: ;))), Age Difference, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Explicit Sexual Content, LMAO, M/M, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Ned is just confused RIP, Not for long tho, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter can't handle the sexiness, Peter is a Virgin, Pineapples, Protective Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers is a secret bad boy ... ish, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony is going to need SO MUCH THERAPY, honk, inexperienced boys, midnight hot chocolate, only steve would manage to look sexy while working out, peter is a precious cinnamon bun, steamy shower time, steve is a lost bean, the avengers are one big happy family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2019-10-02 04:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17257352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasySwap/pseuds/FantasySwap, https://archiveofourown.org/users/obnoxiousq/pseuds/obnoxiousq
Summary: ‘Who the hell are you?’ Peter shrieks, gesticulating wildly as he tries to comprehend why a random 30-something year old is in his kitchen at 3 am. Cooking. In his underwear.‘I’m Steve, nice to meet you,’ says the blonde man calmly as he extends his free hand towards Peter. Peter stops waving his arms around and glares at “Steve’s” hand suspiciously thinking, this is an awfully polite intruder."In which Steve meets Peter, pineapples are sacrificed, and Tony loses it approximately 7 times.





	1. Chapter One: In which Peter throws a pineapple at a sexy intruder

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoldTrimmedSpectacles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldTrimmedSpectacles/gifts).



> HELLO LOVELY (probably non-existent rip) READERS,  
> Due to the lack of wholesome, fluffy Steve/Peter content of AO3, @fantasyswap and I have taken it upon ourselves to bless your lives and fill it with the one thing you’ve been missing: the ultimate soft partnership.

Peter wakes to the sound of the fridge door being slammed shut, and glances at his alarm clock: 03:27, not cool. Hadn’t Tony promised that he’d stop waking Peter up at all hours, seeing as he knew how much Peter treasured the amazing nights sleep he could get at the Tower? He is just gearing himself up to get out of bed and go yell at Tony - sleepily complain, more like - when he remembers with a jolt of panic that Tony _ isn’t even supposed to be home this evening _ , and therefore, it could be none other than an intruder. An intruder who must be stealing from their fridge by the sound of it. If they even  _ think _ about touching Peter’s leftover pizza, Peter thinks murderously, there is going to be hell to pay. 

 

Peter cast a nervous glance around the bedroom that he has at the Tower, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark. Shadows dance ominously in the corners of the room while he sat, straining to hear if whoever is here will make another noise. For a few minutes there’s nothing but silence as Peter counts down the seconds in his head, whole body poised ready to spring into action if necessary. He doesn’t think he has anything in here that could be used as a weapon, but Tony has a lot of old technology lying around that might fool an intruder into getting the hell out of there.

 

Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, Peter stumbles out of bed less gracefully than he intended and ends up frozen, one leg raised, listening out for any sign that the intruder has heard him. He briefly considers calling Tony and telling the man to get his ass back from whatever science convention he’s at now, but he dismisses the idea. He’s almost seventeen years old, he wants to show Tony that he is actually responsible and independent enough to deal with a tiny situation like this on his own.

 

Plus, May would kill him if she knew he was staying at the Tower without Tony. That too.

 

Inching towards the door, he grasps the handle and twists it carefully, hoping the door won’t emit its tell-tale squeak as it opens. He checks to see if the intruder is anywhere in sight and edges out into the hallway. Shivering in his oversized t-shirt and boxers he steps forward, trips over a pile of laundry left outside his door, and bangs his elbow into the wall. Hard.  _ The one time Tony decides to be motherly?  _ An answering noise sounds from the kitchen while he creeps towards the kitchen, suddenly wishing that he had some kind of weapon as he peeks round the corner of the hallway that joins into the main living area. 

 

The intruder is in plain site, not even dressed in black, and appears to be  _ cooking?  _ Peter looks around wildly for any kind of weapon and grabs the first thing he sees, a pineapple, launching it at the man’s back. For all of his lack of skill and grace in PhysEd, the fruit meets its target exactly as intended, smacking between the man’s shoulder blades before falling on the floor. The intruder yells and spins round, brandishing a spatula when his eyes land on Peter and he goes suddenly still. 

 

‘Who the hell are you?’ Peter shrieks, gesticulating wildly as he tries to comprehend why some 30-something year old is in his kitchen at 3 am cooking. In his underwear.

 

‘I’m Steve, nice to meet you,’ says the blonde man calmly as he extends his free hand towards Peter. Peter stops waving his arms around and glares at “Steve’s” hand suspiciously, thinking,  _ this is an awfully polite intruder _ .

 

‘What are you doing in my house, Intruder Steve? Are you going to steal something of value or are you just here to make a meal and then leave again?’ demands Peter, brain whirring as he tries to remember if he might ever have met this man before.

 

Steve bursts into laughter and turns back around to check on his food, stunning Peter. The audacity!

 

‘I’m a long-time friend of Tony’s, so no, I’m not going to steal anything.’

 

Peter can hear the humour in his voice. He stands, immobile, for a few seconds trying to decide what to do; the man really does just appear to be cooking. This intruder doesn’t look like he means any harm. Peter glances at the pineapple lying sadly on the floor - he had been planning to eat that for breakfast tomorrow morning - and debates with himself.

 

‘Are you just going to… cook?’ Peter asks in a small voice, subconsciously pulling the bottom of his t-shirt down to cover more of his thighs. It’s irrational, Steve isn’t looking at him, but the man’s body is on display and it’s sort of distracting. His muscles are so defined that each movement causes them to shift under soft-looking skin. His back is tanned with wide shoulders, and Peter would be lying if he said the man wasn’t crazy attractive.

 

‘Looks like it.’ Steve replies happily, peering over his shoulder at Peter. It might have been Peter’s imagination, but he could have sworn the man’s eyes flicker briefly to Peter’s hands clutching the bottom of his shirt, and Peter flushes crimson.

 

‘You want to share? There should be enough for two.’ Peter is pretty sure real, threatening intruders wouldn’t offer to share their stolen meal with the inhabitants of the house they has just broken into, so Peter is somewhat reassured. Still, the man is more than a little intimidating and he doesn’t want to sit down for a midnight snack with him just yet.

 

‘I’m not hungry.’ He responds, too quickly. Steve simply shrugs in response. Nothing happens.

 

Eventually Peter turns on his heel and, cautiously, without a word, heads back to his room. He manages to make it almost all the way to his bedroom without making a noise and attracting Intruder Steve’s attention. It would have stayed that way too if he hadn’t then tripped over the same pile of clothes, further spreading the clean, formerly neatly-folded laundry all over the hall, and this time banging the other elbow. Typical. There’s not much chance that Steve didn’t hear that, Peter thinks regretfully.

 

It’s only when Peter returns to the privacy of his bedroom that he remembers his boxers are a pair that Tony bought him as a joke, and that they have tiny dinosaurs on them. Sometimes he really thinks he shouldn’t be allowed in public.

 

***

 

Steve sits down to eat his scrambled eggs with a strange, light-hearted feeling in his chest. Honestly, he had no idea how the kid had had such an affect on him; no one has made him laugh like that since the early days of the war. Really, no one has made him laugh like that since Peggy, but she was gone now and it didn’t do to dwell on the past. Steve finished the last of his eggs, rinsed his plate and glass and put them in the dishwasher, deciding to find a bed to sleep in. Walking through the hallway he noticed laundry strewn all over the place and chuckled, realising that must have been what the kid had tripped over. He opens the door of the room next to Tony’s mysterious house guest and closes it softly behind him. 

 

When Steve had first returned to America a few days earlier he hadn’t planned on staying in the Tower for too long. A few nights at most while he gets his affairs in order and finds a one bedroom apartment to move into. He has a pretty hefty sum of money stashed away - some from his mother before she died, some from the army - so it isn’t like he would be financially dependent on Tony. He wouldn’t want to do that to a friend.

 

But he found that, after Tony had to stay away for a night on a business trip and Steve was left alone, he hated the thought of living on his own. Whenever he had tried to sleep his mind was plagued with memories, nightmares, of his time serving. It had been impossible for him to get any rest. If he couldn’t handle one night alone, how would he cope living completely alone?

 

He hadn’t told Tony any of this, of course. He had just implied that it was taking longer than expected to find an apartment, and Tony had told him to take all the time he needed. Steve had an inkling that Tony suspected the truth, but he hadn’t mentioned it and Steve appreciated that.

 

He has no clue who the kid in the next room is, no idea what he’s doing in the tower, but for some reason Steve is reassured by his presence. In any case, he figures with a small, fond smile on his face, if anyone tries to attack them the kid can always throw pineapples at them.

 

Steve sleeps the best he has in a long time that night, knowing that he isn’t alone.


	2. Chapter Two: In which two bros chill in a hot tub

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers! 
> 
> To those of you who commented on our first chapter and have noticed that all the comments have disappeared, apologies! That won't happen this time :) 
> 
> Also big shout out to @webcurtains for being our first commenter, and especially because they left such a lovely, detailed one at that <3

Peter wakes up the next morning to the sound of Tony laughing and the smell of bacon. Both these things are welcomed after the confusing events of last night - bacon is always appreciated, and Peter would never dare admit it to the man himself but he missed Tony last night. He thinks he would have missed him anyway, even if Steve the Not Quite Intruder hadn’t made an appearance, which is ridiculous because Peter never misses the man when he’s sleeping at home.

 

Peter rubs his eyes and stretches before stumbling out of bed and into the kitchen, forgetting that Steve the Not Quite Intruder was still in the house, and was probably the cause of Tony’s laughter. He’s still wearing the dinosaur boxers from last night but with a pair of low hanging tracksuit pants over them. He had taken his shirt off in the night - it gets far too hot in the tower, especially since it seemed Tony had left the central heating on before he left and Peter had no clue how to turn it off. He and Tony have grown accustomed to seeing each other in their underwear, both used to waking up and encountering each other in the middle of the night. It completely slips Peter’s mind that they’re not alone this morning.

‘Morning Pete, did you sleep well?’ inquires Tony, sipping his coffee.

 

Peter yawns sleepily, running a hand through his hair to push it back out of his eyes. He needs coffee straight away before he can even think about joining Tony in the lab, which is what he expects the man will want to do.

 

‘Coffee?’ asks a strange voice and Peter jumps, spinning to face the source. It definitely isn’t coming from Tony and unless the man is possessed - which seems unlikely, no demon would want to be stuck fighting with Tony Stark - that must mean…

 

His eyes land on Not Quite Intruder Steve and narrow suspiciously.

 

‘Why are you still in my house, Not Quite Intruder Steve? Was ruining my breakfast pineapple not enough for you?’ demands Peter, standing up straighter and squaring his shoulders. He becomes all too aware of the fact that his chest is bare and his tracksuit bottoms are slipping down his hips, but he’s already glaring at Steve and he can’t stop now.

 

‘Woah, down Pete,’ laughs Tony, ‘This is a good friend of mine, Steve Rogers. He’s going to be staying here for a few weeks while he looks for his own place.’

 

Steve is looking at him intensely, as if watching for his reaction.

 

‘I, uh, okay. Cool?’ Peter mumbles, pulling at his joggers and looking at the floor; also known as anywhere but Steve’s incredibly blue eyes.

 

He senses rather than sees Steve and Tony share a look and there’s a pause followed by a, ‘Maybe we could go to the movies tonight? Grab a burger on the way there? That sound like a plan, kid?’ from Tony.

 

Peter perks up at the thought of food accompanied by a film; he loves spending time with Tony in the lab working on science experiments and similar things, but nothing beats some quality time together. They’re friends first and foremost and Peter enjoys nothing more than crashing out on the couch and binging on junk food.

 

His excitement wanes a little when Tony follows that up with, “And it’ll be a great opportunity for Steve to get used to the city again.” He doesn’t let it show though, conscious of Steve’s gaze on him. Peter swallows slowly and nods, purposefully not meeting the man’s eyes. He takes the coffee that Tony offers him and uses it as an excuse not to have to say anything.

 

“I’m going to… take a shower.” Steve coughs awkwardly, his hesitant words clearly a response to Peter’s wooden behaviour. Tony watches his back until he’s out of the room and then turns to Peter.

 

“What was that about?” He asks, sipping on his own coffee.

 

“What?” Peter says at first, going for the innocent approach, but then drops it when he sees the expression on Tony’s face. “Nothing. Really! I just… didn’t know we had guests.”

 

Tony doesn’t seem convinced but he lets the subject drop, turning around to put his mug in the sink. “Sorry about that.” He responds, sounding genuinely contrite. “I meant to tell you he was staying here but with my meeting and everything it completely slipped my mind.”

 

“It’s okay,” mumbles Peter. Why can’t he stop mumbling?

 

“Are you sure? I should have told you, I’m sorry.”

 

Hearing Tony’s genuine apology, Peter realises how ridiculously he is behaving. Why shouldn’t Tony have other people stay? Okay, maybe he should have mentioned it, but Peter was acting like a sulky child, and for what? Just because the man was stupid good-looking and probably could have cooked his eggs on his own abs doesn’t mean that Peter needs to start acting all alpha.

 

“No, Tony, it’s honestly fine. A heads up the next time might be nice but I’ll apologise to Steve for my behaviour once he gets out of the shower, sorry for letting you down.”

 

Tony watches Peter curiously, head tilted to the side like he’s trying to work something out, but eventually he sighs and turns around again, turning the tap on. Peter shrugs off the anxiety settling in his stomach and slips out of the kitchen before Tony can question him further, heading to his room and planning to spend the rest of the day there. He honestly does plan on apologising to Steve. Just…

 

Not yet.

 

***

 

It’s not until a few hours later - Peter hasn’t left his bedroom since this morning - that JARVIS announces over the intercom that ‘Mr Stark and Mr Rogers are waiting in the living area for you so that they may depart’. Peter shoves his feet into his converse and stumbles out of his room, grabbing his phone as he leaves. Steve is sitting neatly in an armchair while Tony stands, hip cocked, glancing at his watch. They both look up as he enters and Peter smiles awkwardly, not sure who to look at.

 

“Everything okay?” Peter asks hesitantly, looking between Tony and Steve.

 

“We weren’t waiting for you or anything,” Tony says sarcastically.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you wanted to leave this early,” he responds sheepishly.

 

“Oh, Peter, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” Steve interrupts.

 

Peter glances at Tony and sees the warning look in his eyes.

 

“Uhm, I’d love to.” Peter says, sensing he doesn’t have much of a choice.

 

The elevator ride down is awkward, and Peter avoids looking at either of the men and instead opts to stare at the scuff marks on his sneakers. Tony and Steve keep up a constant stream of chatter on the way to the burger joint, allowing Peter to fully zone out. It’s as they’re sitting down to eat that Tony’s phone rings and he sighs before pulling it out of his pocket.

 

“Pepper? Hi, I’m just sitting down for dinner with Steve and Peter, what’s up? Seriously, right now? Are you sure? Okay, don’t freak out Pep, I’ll be right there,” He hangs up the phone with a sigh and turns towards them, “I’m really sorry guys. Something’s come up at SI so I’ve gotta go, are you guys gonna be okay by yourselves?”

 

Peter glances warily at Steve, to find the man already staring intensely at him. He offers a hesitant smile which Steve returns with a genuine one.

 

“Yeah, Tony, I think we’re going to be okay,” responds Steve, not breaking eye contact with Peter.

 

Peter looks away at Tony’s concerned gaze and nods, “Yeah, we’ll be fine Tony. If I don’t come home tonight at least you have a primary suspect.”

 

Tony laughs awkwardly before squeezing his shoulder and exiting the restaurant. Whether it’s Peter’s botched attempt at humour or whatever stressful problem is going down at Stark Industries, it seems like Peter and Steve are left alone far too soon. Peter isn’t nearly prepared enough.

 

“Sooo,” he begins hesitantly, “what, um, how do you know Tony?”

 

Great one Parker, he thinks to himself. Thousands of things he could have said, and he chooses the lamest possible option? No wonder he has no friends. Then he has to question why he’s so bothered about what the Not Intruder Steve thinks of him. Tony isn’t here anymore, it’s not like he’s desperate for approval anymore.

 

Not that he is in the first place. Of course.

 

“Oh, Tony and I go way back. I’m just staying with him for a while. I recently moved back to New York.” Steve replies, somehow managing to tell Peter a bunch of things he already knew and avoid properly answering the question at the same time. Peter hums an acknowledgement under his breath, stabbing at his fries with his fork.

 

Steve coughs uncomfortably. “So,” He starts, “Peter. What are you studying at the moment?”

 

Panic floods into Peter’s brain as he realises that he really, _really_ does not want Steve to know that he’s still in High School. Right now Steve is looking at Peter, treating him, like a grown up and for the first time ever Peter feels like he’s on equal footing with an adult.

 

Still panicking, he blurts out, “Biochemistry! I, uh, I like biochem.”

 

He’s not technically lying, if he phrases it like that. This is what he tells himself, at least, to feel less guilty about not telling the whole truth to Steve.

 

“Ah, you must be smarter than me then.” Steve grins self deprecatingly, wiping his fingers on a napkin. Peter’s eyes are automatically drawn to the motion: Steve’s hands - like the rest of him - are big, and could easily fit around Peter’s waist.

 

“I don’t know about that.” Peter blushes in spite of himself. “I just… when you’re passionate about something it never seems like a chore, y’know?” Peter feels mildly ridiculous after he finishes talking because of course Steve will know what he means.

 

But Steve doesn’t sneer at him or shake his head and look at Peter like he’s dumb kid. Instead he smiles sweetly like Peter’s helpless dorkiness is somehow endearing.

 

“What about you? Did you go to college?”

 

Steve pauses before answering, “I studied Fine Art at Columbia but enrolled straight into the army after my final year so haven’t had a chance to put my degree to any use yet. I’m hoping to change that, though.”

 

“Oh,” Peter says, stumped. He has no idea what to say to that, whether he should be apologising or not. “I’m… sorry?”

 

Steve laughs and shakes his head, “Don’t worry about it. I’m only 29. I’ve still got my whole life ahead of me, and I plan to make the most of it.”

 

Peter starts choking on his Coke and Steve’s face becomes a mask of worry as he slaps Peter on his back repeatedly, hard.

 

He finally stops spluttering and squeaks out, “29? I thought you were mid twenties.” Which means that Steve is almost 14 years older than him. 14 is a pretty big age gap, when one of you is 17, not that Steve could ever be interested in a scrawny nerd like him.

 

Wishful thinking or not, Peter is not imagining the way his heart melts when Steve beams at him, eyes crinkling and his whole face lighting up. Peter blinks stupidly and a distant part of brain is thinking, ‘oh, shit,’ but right now he can’t focus on anything other than the way Steve is looking at him, and how in the cinema their arms might _accidentally_ touch. Which of course leads to Peter having a teenage lust fuelled fantasy about things that happen at movie theatres in the dark and awkwardly needing to cross his legs as he stares determinedly at his plate.

 

“Well aren’t you a charmer,” Steve chuckles at him, and Peter’s heart flutters.

 

Luckily the waiter arrives with their bill at that moment, before Peter has any more time to think about what Steve just said and what it might entail for his tragic hard-on.

 

They keep chatting as they walk to the cinema, Peter learning all about Steve’s best friend from childhood, Bucky, and how he’s still with the Army; about how Steve’s favourite colour is blue, he loves pizza and that putting pineapple on it is fine, tasty even, which sparks a heated 5 minute debate about whether or not Steve possesses a soul. In fact, they get on so well they end up talking throughout the movie, which results in someone throwing an empty soda cup at their head and telling them to be quiet, albeit in not such polite language. Peter also learns that Steve loves to read, something they have in common, and that his favourite type of dog is golden retriever. Peter asks Steve so many questions that the older man barely manages to ask any about him - Peter really doesn’t like lying - and he’s so preoccupied with how perfect Steve’s voice is that he doesn’t clock a familiar voice yelling, “PETER!” until it’s too late.

 

“Peter! Peter? Hey, Pete!” Yells Ned as he runs up to them and Peter feels his stomach drop. He panics, knowing that if he doesn’t do something now Ned is going to blow his secret, and comes up with what is probably a terrible idea.

 

“Ah, Hey Ned,” he answers, enveloping him in a hug, “haven’t seen you in ages! How is school?” He asks, while turning to Steve and saying, “I used to babysit Ned when he was younger,” while pinching Ned hard behind his back.

 

Ned yelps slightly before looking confusedly at Peter and saying, “uh no you did-“, but Peter pinches him again, harder, and Ned finally seems to cotton-on.

 

“Oh yea, um, school is super awesome! Doing a great project in Physics at the moment about, um, stars?”

 

Steve looks slightly lost at the exchange but smiles anyway and holds out his hand to Ned.

 

“Hi Ned, nice to meet you, I’m Steve.”

 

Ned shakes his hand warily before asking, “um, how do you know Peter?”

 

“I’m currently staying with Tony while I look for my own apartment, I’ve just moved back to New York.”

 

“Oh, um cool. So -“

 

“So great to see you, Ned. But we really have to go! Talk to you soon, bye!” Peter cuts in, stopping Ned from asking any incriminating questions and grabbing Steve’s wrist and pulling him away.

 

***

Steve’s skin feels like it’s on fire where Peter is touching it and he has to fight the overwhelming urge to link fingers with the boy.

 

Which, really when he thinks about it, doesn’t make much sense. Whilst he’s never really defined himself as straight, he’s never really been attracted to men either. He’s never even kissed a guy before, has no idea whether it would be like kissing a girl or whether it would be completely different. Peter has nice lips - soft looking and definitely kissable - but Peter was also undeniably a guy, and that would be new territory for Steve. Gorgeous curly hair or not.

 

The altercation with that kid Ned was definitely weird, Peter’s eyes were far too wide the whole time and Ned seemed quite confused. Still, Steve couldn’t imagine what a high school student and his old babysitter could be up to that would be so terrible.

 

Steve snaps out of his trance when the pressure around his wrist disappears, and he glances up to find Peter staring at him curiously.

 

“Are you okay, Steve?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” At least, that’s what he keeps telling himself. He doesn’t want to worry Peter with his personal problems anyway. “We should head back, it’s getting late.”

 

Peter blinks hard and nods, “Sure, busy day tomorrow and all…” He trails off and looks to the floor.

 

Steve feels a tug at his heart strings, “I suppose there’s always time for hot chocolate.”

 

Peter looks up at him and smiles, Steve can’t remember the last time he felt this warm.

 

***

 

“I had a really nice time tonight, Peter, thanks for being such great company,” Steve says as they come to a stop outside their bedroom doors. After three cups of hot chocolate he really can’t put off saying goodbye and going to bed anymore, it being 1am by this point.

 

“Me too,” Peter responds shyly, glancing up from under his eyelashes and Steve feels a sudden overwhelming urge to take Peter’s face in his hands and kiss him. He wonders if he’d taste like chocolate or not.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, good night!” Steve says suddenly, opening his door and leaning his forehead on its closed surface.

 

_Real mature, Steve, just leave him out there alone._

  
He moves robotically through his bedtime routine before collapsing into bed, _What have I gotten myself into?_ He falls asleep to the memory of Peter laughing, eyes squeezed closed as he holds his stomach with one hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you enjoyed this chapter (and we hope that chapter three will be up soon!) 
> 
> <3


	3. Chapter Three: In which Steve hopes that the road ahead sure does work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers!
> 
> We hope that life is treating you well at the moment, and that you enjoy reading this chapter as much as we did writing it :))
> 
> this took three attempts to post so please appreciate it RIP

When Steve wakes up the next morning, he brushes his teeth before heading to the kitchen in search of coffee and to see if Peter is awake. But Peter’s bedroom door is wide open, his bed neatly made, and his shoes and jacket missing. Steve finds Tony sitting at the breakfast bar, dressed in an immaculate suit with his hair slicked back while he reads the news on his StarkPad and drinks an espresso. 

 

“Hey Tony, where is Peter?” Steve asks the sleepy looking man.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Where is Peter? It’s 7.30am, what could he possibly have to have left the house for at 7.30am on a Monday morning?” Steve snorts incredulously.

 

“School, duh.” Tony replies distractedly.

 

“His uni classes start at 7.30am on a Monday morning?” 

 

Tony looks perplexed before he bursts into laughter, “of course not, Petey’s still in High School; he’s 17.”

 

Steve blinks once, and then again, “17?” he whispers.

 

“Yup, I know he looks a little old for his age but last time I checked he is definitely still in High School. Unless his version of fun is standing outside the same one every Friday at 3.30 with a backpack and waiting for me to pick him up,” Tony smirks, an amused look in his eyes, “Why’d you ask, anyway?”

 

Steve panics for a moment. Last night he almost kissed a 17-year-old, and as much as he trusts Tony he really doesn’t think the man would be one thousand percent on board with that. He swallows guiltily before responding with, “oh, I was just curious. Did your meeting with Pepper go okay yesterday? How come you were back so late?”

 

“Oh, we uh, we went out for dinner afterwards. The meeting went incredibly well,” Tony smiles, looking lost in his own thoughts.

 

Steve grabs a protein shake out of the fridge and then says over his shoulder, “I’ll be in the gym if you need me!” before heading off to punch out some of his frustrations.

 

***

 

“Peter? Peter!” 

 

Peter cringes when he hears Ned’s loud voice calling him. He speeds up his walk, but in the busy hallway he ends up having to grind to a halt and Ned catches up with him.

 

“Why are you avoiding me, dude? I haven’t seen you, like, all day and we share two classes!”

 

“I’ve uh, just been in a big rush?” He stutters, knowing that it’s a terrible excuse and that Ned really isn’t the cause of any of his problems.

 

“Sure, a big rush,” he responds, making air quotes around “big rush”, “more like you don’t want to explain why you were out on the town with a hot dude and tried to pretend that you used to babysit me?”

 

Peter blushes furiously before mumbling quietly, “he doesn’t know my real age. His name is Steve and he’s a friend of Tony’s, he’s 31 and actually talks to me like a real, intelligent human being instead of some dumb teenager and I want it to stay that way!” 

 

Ned blinks repeatedly, eyes wide as he processes everything that Peter just said. Peter is having a hard time himself believing he said all that; it’s not like Steve would ever even be interested in him anyway so why did he feel the need to act like there might be a chance for him? He supposed that, even though nothing will ever happen, he still wants to be Steve’s friend, not just Steve’s friend’s protégé. 

 

Peter isn’t staying at Tony’s again until Friday, and spends the next four days daydreaming about Steve and panicking about the whole lying about his age thing. Ned has been surprisingly cool about it all: after giving Peter an unnecessary - and completely unwanted - speech about safe sex and the dangers of older men: he had wheedled away at Peter’s sanity until he had been forced to tell him all about Steve. For a straight guy, Ned sure is interested in Steve’s incredible abs.

 

Or maybe he’s just humouring Peter whilst he pines over Steve in biology, but Peter chooses to believe he’s genuinely interested. Abs like that deserve genuine interest. 

 

***

 

He hurries out of school on Friday, excited to be heading off to Tony’s workshop straight away. He’s chatting to Ned about possibly meeting at his tomorrow to build the newest Lego Star Wars kit and absentmindedly glancing around the parking lot for Happy’s car, when he spots Steve leaning against a gleaming motorcycle in the parking bay. He feels his heart rate spike in excitement before he remembers that he told Steve that he was a uni student, at which it increases even more and his palms become incredibly sweaty.

 

He briefly considers telling Steve that he’s picking Ned up from school and walking him home as part of his babysitting duties but Ned is so obviously not a little kid anymore, and the look on Steve’s face makes him think that it would be better to just… not.

 

“Ned?” he mumbles, tugging at the other boy’s sleeve, “Ned, Steve is over there. I repeat, Tony’s sexy housemate who thinks I’m in College is parked up over there,” 

 

He stupidly does not express to Ned to importance of  _ not looking round _ , assuming that Ned would just understand general social etiquette and not do that. Clearly he was mistaken, because Ned’s first reaction is to whip around in front of the school gates, looking left and right until his gaze settles on Steve. Peter wants to die. 

 

“Thanks Ned,” he mutters bitterly, “That was really subtle.”

 

Ned ignores him in favour of totally checking Steve out, to the extent that Peter has to covertly step on his foot when even Steve is beginning to look a little creeped out. For a  supposedly straight guy Ned sure does seem to appreciate Steve’s sharp jawline and sexily tousled hair, the way his jacket hangs off his broad shoulders and—

 

“ _ That’s _ who you’ve been flirting with?” Ned chokes out, looking Peter up and down doubtfully.

 

“Uh, yes?” He responds, locking eyes with Steve and smiling awkwardly, “Ned, I’ve gotta go.”

 

“I’d say use protection, but I’m not gonna, get pregnant and bag him for life,” Ned claps him on the back.

 

“Ned! We’re both dudes? What? No, shut up,” Peter exclaims, walking away from his friend and shooting him a weird look over his shoulder. Ned really needs to get out more, Peter thinks. Totally unlike himself, of course.

 

Steve watches Peter as he gets closer and Peter feels himself blush under the scrutiny. He resists the urge to rub the back of his neck and, when he’s standing in front of the older man, he moves his backpack further over his shoulder and shifts uncomfortably. He never explicitly lied to Steve, but the way the man is looking at him now you’d think Peter had kicked a puppy right in front of him.

 

“Uh, Hi?” he stutters, feeling as if he really had kicked a puppy.

 

“So, biochem, huh?” responds Steve, trying to hide a smirk.

 

“I really do want to study biochem at Empire State, just... not quite yet?” he responds, scuffing his toe against the ground and blushing furiously.

 

Steve sighs and rubs a hand across his face resignedly, levelling Peter with a look he can’t place. Peter is aware of several students checking out Steve’s motorbike enviously - even more of them checking out Steve himself - and shuffles half a step closer to the man.

 

“Is, um, is Happy coming?” He asks awkwardly, eyeing up the intimidating bike behind Steve.

 

“Nope, figured you might wanna go and get some pizza?” Now Steve seems to be awkward one, but Peter is too busy hiding a smile to notice that. Steve found out where he goes to school, showed up at the end of the day and offered to take him out for pizza even though Peter (technically) lied to him. That must mean he likes him, right?

 

Unless Steve is just being friendly. God, Peter is so confused. He needs MJ to tell him what’s going on, but at the same time he’s not sure telling anyone else would be such a good idea.

 

“I live for pizza, so, um, I’d love to? But how are we getting there?” he asks, looking nervously at the bike.

 

Steve pats his bike gently, “figured you might enjoy a ride on this thing,” he grins at Peter and Peter feels his heart stop. Steve’s whole face lights up when he smiles, and it’s impossible to feel awkward around him when he looks like that. He looks at the bike again and imagines getting to wrap his arms around Steve’s muscled chest.

 

_ Tony would kill him if he knew. _

 

Correction, Tony will kill him  _ when _ he finds out, because he’s Tony Stark and there’s no doubt in Peter’s mind that he  _ will _ find out about this.

 

Peter makes a split second decision, and decides that he really doesn’t care. “Uh, hell yeah I wanna go on a motorcycle with yo--, um, I mean, yeah, bikes. Cool,” He wasn’t sure before if it was scientifically possible to blush any harder but, it turns out, it is. Steve doesn’t seem to mind though; he’s watching him with a slightly amused expression as though Peter’s dorkiness is something endearing.

 

“Let me guess, you’ve never been on one of these before?” Steve picks up a spare helmet hanging from his handlebars and, with a single finger under the strap, holds it out to Peter. He has a smirk on his face like this may be the one thing he’s certain about, and whilst that threatens to have Peter’s dick pressing into Steve’s back the whole journey home it also makes him feel a lot safer about getting on a motorbike with the man.

 

“Is it that obvious?” Peter grins self deprecatingly, struggling with the buckle of the helmet as Steve seems to fix his in place no problem. Steve must see him struggling, and he rolls his eyes good naturedly as he takes the helmet from Peter’s hands. Peter’s breath catches in his throat as Steve steps closer to him— and they’re so close now that Peter can smell Steve’s cologne, and the musky smell underneath that and, yep, it’s going to be really awkward to hide his boner now.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Steve murmurs in a low voice, fingers pressing gently under Peter’s chin and tilting his head up. He fiddles with the straps of the helmet, fingers brushing Peter’s cheek every so often, until there’s a clicking noise and the helmet seems to stay in place.

 

“There,” Steve hums, eyes flitting momentarily - so briefly that Peter thinks he must have imagined it - to Peter’s lips. “All done,” he smiles, and Peter feels a little wobbly on his feet all of a sudden.

 

Then he’s stepping away so suddenly and unexpectedly that Peter whimpers a little and is left blinking in the familiar highschool parking lot.

 

Peters not sure if anything will ever compare to the feeling of wrapping his arms around Steve, and the vibrations of the bike travelling through their bodies as Steve starts the engine, which subsequently sends a jolt of pleasure straight to his crotch.

 

_ No, no, please no, please don’t get a boner while you’re pressed up against Steve’s back,  _ Peter pleads internally.

 

“This is gonna be scary at first,” Steve turns his head to face Peter more, “But trust me, you’ll be fine. All you have to do is keep your arms around me and lean when I lean. Don’t let go, okay?”

 

“Yeah, okay.” Peter nods breathlessly. Plaster himself across Steve’s back? Yeah, Peter doesn’t think he’ll have a problem with that.

 

Steve swings a leg over the seat and balances elegantly, watching as Peter hops around for a second. Eventually, when Peter has managed to settle down without falling over or sliding off the back of the bike, Steve revs the engine. Peter yelps, instinctively flinging his arms over Steve’s shoulders. He feels Steve’s laugh vibrating through his chest where their bodies are touching.

 

“Like this,” Steve instructs, gently taking Peter’s wrists and lowering his arms so that he’s clinging onto Steve’s waist instead of his neck.

 

Peter’s front is fully pressed up against Steve’s back, and his legs are definitely going to ache if they’re on the bike for very long from how wide they are stretched to be able to fit around Steve. That realisation does things to Peter that it really shouldn’t, considering their close proximity - which certainly isn’t helping - but he closes his eyes and tries not to scream when Steve suddenly puts the bike into gear and accelerates away from the pavement. 

 

It’s an incredible sensation: Peter can feel the wind on his face and the loud rumbling of the bike’s engine is almost overwhelming, but he can also feel Steve’s body heat through the man’s clothes. He’s too scared, at first, to open his eyes, choosing instead to keep his head firmly pressed against Steve’s back. If Steve mentions anything about it later on he’ll just claim he was scared, and that it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Steve actually smells really nice.

 

It seems like they’re driving for all of five minutes before Steve is cutting the engine and the roaring in Peter’s ears dies down. Either Steve just broke the laws of physics or the laws of man, because Peter knows for a fact that it takes twenty minutes to get from school to the diner that they’re now sitting outside.

 

“Get whatever you want, Pete. It’s on me.” Steve undoes the straps of his helmet and slots it under his arm, which Peter definitely does not stare at as the muscles shift under the leather. Peter also doesn’t flush and trip over his own feet a little and have to subtly look around to make sure nobody saw that.

 

(Nobody did.)

 

“Are you sure?” Peter asks, tugging at his sleeves. “I can pay, really, it’s no trouble—”

 

“Peter,” Steve interrupts, holding the door open for him. “Seriously, my treat.”

 

***

 

It takes Peter a while to realise that that strange noise he keeps hearing is actually the vibrating of his phone which he shoved at the bottom of his rucksack before getting on the bike earlier. He manages to pull it out from underneath all his books and sees that he has twelve missed calls from Tony.

 

“Shit! Shit, shit, shit,” he yells quietly, fumbling his phone and consequently dropping it when it suddenly starts to ring again, “oh bloody fuck, um, Tony? Hello?” 

 

“Hey Pete, care to explain why I’ve been desperately trying to get hold of you for the past 50 minutes, because you weren’t there when I arrived to pick you up?” replies a scarily composed Tony on the other end of the phone.

 

_ Oh, shit. _

 

“I, uh, I, didn’t realise that you were picking me up? I’m with Steve? He said it was cool?”

 

“You’re with  _ Steve _ ? Where the hell are you guys?”

 

“Pizza. We, um, we’re eating pizza,” he mumbles, smiling nervously at Steve’s confused look.

 

“Steve’s car is still in the garage, how’d you guys get to the pizza place, hm?”

 

“On the bike?” he whispers, regretting his entire life.

 

“What was that Pete? I didn’t quite catch that, I thought that maybe you said something about you going on Steve’s _ motorbike _ ,”

 

“Um, yes?” he responds nervously, fingers worrying at his trouser seam.

 

A strange noise comes through the phone and then 30 seconds of silence before Tony responds, “Don’t. Move. A muscle. I’m coming to pick you up, right now,” and then hangs up abruptly.

 

_ I am going to die a slow and painful death. _

 

“Peter? Is everything okay?” Asks Steve, a concerned frown covering his face.

 

“I think that Tony might actually kill me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's spidershield writer shoutout goes to [NerdiestOfAll](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdiestOfAll/pseuds/NerdiestOfAll) who has written a bunch of awesome fics, so go and check them out :)
> 
> we hope you enjoyed this chapter! <3


	4. Chapter Four: In which Tony loses his shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers!
> 
> Chapter Four is finally here, and Tony loses his shit for the first of seven times :D
> 
> Enjoy!

Steve looks at Peter with a puzzled frown, “what do you mean Tony is going to kill yo--”

 

The door to the restaurant slams against the wall and Steve watches as Tony storms into the restaurant yelling, “PETER BENJAMIN PARKER WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK THAT YOU’RE DOING,” and Peter’s face goes white, his shoulders hunching up to his ears.

 

_ ‘Ah,’ _ Steve thinks.  _ ‘This might be what he means.’ _

 

Peter’s face is slowly draining of the little colour it still had as Tony strides over to their table, glaring daggers at the both of them. Steve feels his resolve start to crack a little, furious Tony is  _ not  _ someone that you want aimed at you.

 

“Heeey, Tony…” Steve swallows nervously, looking between Tony and the door and working out the probability of him being able to run that far without Tony catching him. Various other patrons of the restaurant are looking at them with general disapproval now, wondering why their afternoon meal is being disturbed. 

 

“Don’t, ‘heeey Tony’ me.” Tony snarls, turning his death glare away from Peter and towards Steve, “you kidnapped my kid.”

 

“What!” Steve cries defensively. “I didn’t! I picked him up from school!” Tony raises his eyebrows and, yes, Steve has to admit that he sort of did pick Peter up from school without telling anyone. This hadn’t been his original plan - it had just sort of…  _ happened _ \- but it’s not kidnapping if the kid in question willingly goes with you, right?

 

_ Kid _ , Steve thinks.  _ Yikes _ .

 

“Yea, Tony, calm down! Steve said that Happy was chill with it, he’d agreed it already!” Says Peter eagerly, obviously wanting to dissolve the tension.

 

But it does the complete opposite, Steve sighs internally because that isn’t strictly true, and he’s watching Tony’s face turn red, the vein on his forehead starting to pulse.

 

This was seriously bad.

 

“This is DEFINITELY KIDNAPPING, STEVE?! YOU LIED TO HIM TO GET HIM TO GO WITH YOU? You better have made him wear a seatbelt or I swear to God I’m going to--”

 

_ Don’t mention the bike, don’t mention the bike. DO NOT MENTION THE BI-- oh fuck, too late. _

 

Tony’s eyes widen as he finally takes in Steve’s appearance: from the crazy helmet hair to Steve’s black biker jacket. 

 

“You didn’t,” he breathes. Steve tries unsubtly to push the helmets out of view, but in doing so he just draws more attention to them. Tony’s face is slowly, gradually turning more and more red.

 

“You  _ didn’t _ .” He repeats, with less conviction this time. When neither Steve nor Peter poses an argument or tells Tony what he wants to hear - that they actually, really, definitely  _ didn’t _ \- he looks past them both and out of the window into the parking lot. The massive, sleek looking motorcycle isn’t really something Steve can push out of view. 

 

“You… you  _ did _ .” Tony hisses, looking positively murderous. Steve gulps. Peter tries not to whimper. 

 

“Tony, people are starting to look!” Peter says nervously, looking around the place filled with nosy, bored looking adults and groups of giggling teenagers. One of which goes to his school, great. A world famous billionaire losing his shit in a low grade restaurant is sort of front page tabloid news and Peter doesn’t want to be in that situation ever— again.

 

“Well, then let’s take this conversation somewhere more private. Peter, get your bag, we’re going.”

 

Steve clearly doesn’t want to stay here, but it really doesn’t look like he wants to go anywhere private with an angry Tony Stark either. At least in a public place he can’t be murdered.

 

“I’ll see you later, Rogers,” Tony’s steely eyed glare on leaving implies that it won’t be a pleasant meeting. Steve nods at Tony, awkwardly avoiding eye contact, whilst Peter shuffles around for a minute retrieving his bag and sliding out of the booth. His cheeks are flushed pink and he’s so clearly embarrassed that Steve can’t help but feel guilty for finding him cute right now. 

 

_ Inappropriate _ , Steve berates himself. Not just now, in general. It is inappropriate in general to be pining after your best friend’s almost-kid, who you just pretty much kidnapped. Steve is really not doing a good job at this whole ‘friend’ thing, to Tony  _ or _ Peter.

 

“Peter–” Steve starts, intending to apologise or say that he had fun today or even just that he’ll see him later, but Tony interrupts him immediately.

 

“Nope,” Tony slides sideways so that he’s standing in between Peter and Steve. “Don’t even try it. You don’t get to talk to him.”

 

“Tony, c’mon—” Peter tries, poking his head over the man’s shoulder. Tony moves fluidly to block Peter’s view. “Tony! This is so unreasonable! I’m literally going to see him back at the tower? I just wanted to say thanks for the food!”

 

Tony grumbles something incoherent before turning slowly to face Steve. He looks very unhappy.

 

“Peter says thank you for the food.” He mutters. Peter gapes. Steve sighs, wondering how far he should push his luck here and the likelihood of Tony getting a new design idea and forgetting all about this exchange within twenty four hours.

 

“Please tell Peter he’s welcome, and that it was great hanging out with him, and that he’s really smart and could definitely study biochem and–” Steve is cut off when Tony turns his back on him and starts speaking.

 

“Steve says you’re welcome.” He grits his teeth and speaks stiffly.

 

Peter holds back a snort, but can’t stop the smile that creeps over his face at Steve’s words. He’s kind of grateful for the barrier between them that is Tony Stark right now so that Steve can’t see his dopey, infatuated expression.

 

“Let’s go, kid,” mutters Tony, his face beginning to return to a slightly more normal colour. He turns and starts to make his way to the door and Peter flashes a grin at Steve, who returns it with even more enthusiasm. 

 

“PETER!”

 

Peter jumps, and scurries after Tony, trying to suppress the wide grin on his face.

 

Steve wonders what the hell he has gotten himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let us know what you thought in the comments below ;) 
> 
> See you soon <3


	5. Chapter Five: In which Tony honks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers,
> 
> this one's a spicy one... hope you enjoy!!

Tony is decidedly Not Happy. He frogmarches Peter to his obnoxiously flashy car parked right in front of the door and practically shoves Peter into the front seat like he’s a criminal. He’s muttering to himself the whole time, and Peter recognises this as the way Tony gets when he’s working himself up to a speech. Tony’s speeches are always either incredibly funny (when directed at someone else) or impossibly teacheresque.

 

“Peter,” He says eventually when the silence has gotten a little too noticeable. “Listen. I know at your age you’re probably thinking a lot about… science, or girls or something. I don’t know what teenagers are like these days. But you’re probably going to want to rebel against the authority figures in your life. That’s normal. Understandable, even. But if you’re going to rebel, you’re going to do it when May or I are around so we can supervise your rebellion and make sure you don’t do anything reckless.”

 

Ahh, so it’s going to be a teacheresque type lecture today then.

 

“Tony-” Peter starts, deciding whether to tell him to stop meddling with his private life - a course of action that would almost certainly reaffirm Tony’s belief that this was all in the name of teenage rebellion - or try and persuade him that he isn’t going to be taking any risks any time soon.

 

Then he remembers the ride on the back of a motorbike with a man a decade older than him who he’d met approximately twice before, and decides to keep his mouth shut.

 

“No, Peter, listen to me!” Tony’s hands squeeze the steering wheel until his knuckles turn white. “If you want to rebel come to me for advice! Steve doesn’t know what it means to be a badass.”

 

Peter sighs internally, desperately regretting trying to have an opinion in this very much one-sided argument. Especially as it causes Tony to launch into an even bigger tirade, which goes something along the lines of ‘appearances are everything, do you want to ruin all of your prospects and end up working in a McDonald’s?’.

 

Peter doesn’t think it would be a good idea to say that being around fries and burgers all day would be kind of cool, as long as he got to use Tony’s workshop whenever he wants to.

 

“I’m sorry I made you worry, Tony.” Peter sighs, knowing this bit at least is true. “But I won’t do it again. It wasn’t even a one time thing, it was like… a half a time thing since I didn’t even know I  _ was _ making you worry.”

 

Yes, Peter feels kind of guilty throwing Steve under the bus like that but he knows what’s about to happen if he doesn’t and that terrifies him more than life itself.

 

Tony smirks at his efforts. “Nice try, kid,” he says, “But I’m still telling May.”

 

***

 

May is not happy either. She takes one look at Tony’s stern expression and opens the door wide without question. There aren’t many things that could put a reproachful look on Tony’s face and, unfortunately, Peter finds himself being one of those things.

 

“You rode on a  _ motorbike _ , Peter?! You  _ know _ how I feel about motorbikes! And who even is Steve anyway? I’ve never met the man, he certainly shouldn’t be corrupting you.”

 

Peter sighs internally, wishing that they had been just one hour later, so that May wouldn’t have been home. Her lecture goes in a similar way to Tony’s, except that Tony pitches in once or twice to defend Steve’s honour. Eventually, May relents and allows Peter to go back to the tower with Tony seeing as he couldn’t stay home alone all weekend and the anguished look on Peter’s face at the thought of not being able to go in the workshop for two weeks obviously bothers her.

 

Peter can tell that Tony is working himself up to say something, but doesn’t find out what until they are back in the car.

 

“So how come you and Steve are suddenly so close anyway? Why would he lie about picking you up from school and not tell anybody?” Tony asks him, a sharp edge to his voice that Peter can’t quite figure out.

 

He panics internally, before realising that there is nothing going on between him and Steve - at least, probably not on Steve’s part - and that they haven’t done anything wrong in anyone’s eyes;  except for May and Tony’s, and that’s only because he rode a motorcycle.

 

“We just get on really well, we had um, a really nice time last weekend and have a lot to talk about? I guess?” Peter responds, hoping that it’s a good enough answer for Tony.

 

And surprisingly, it is. Tony seems to forget his second question and they chat about his latest project for SI during the remainder of the drive. He isn’t sure exactly how long Tony has known Steve, but it must be long enough that he implicitly trusts his friend. At least, enough not to assume the worst, which Tony always seems to do.

 

Peter decides he needs a shower as soon as he gets in because honestly, after riding Steve’s motorbike and eating way too much pizza he feels kind of gross. It’s been such a stressful day he just wants to stand under the warm, comforting flow of water and relax. Let all the stress wash off just like the dirt and grime of the day. He sighs in relief as soon as the elevator delivers him to his floor. Having sat through not only two lectures from Tony, but also one from May, his mental resources are completely depleted and his hair is disgusting from the helmet.

  
  


He intends to make a beeline for the bathroom. He has his own en suite in his room but the communal bathroom on this floor is way cooler and the shower has, like, a hundred different settings so he always chooses this one instead. He is already kicking off his shoes along the way - knowing Tony will probably trip over one in the middle of the night and chew him out for it in the morning, his own petty version of revenge - when he hears something to his left.

 

He peers around the corner curiously, and what he sees is enough to leave him breathless and sweaty. He’s ten thousand percent sure he needs a shower now more than before.

 

Steve is sitting on one of the wooden benches in Tony’s gym, topless and glistening with sweat, a hefty looking dumbbell in one hand whilst with the other hand he grips onto the pull up bar above his head. The muscles in his arms and on his toned stomach are flexed and easily defined. His hair is damp with sweat and hanging over his eyes, and he’s so caught up in his workout that he doesn’t notice Peter lurking behind the wall spying on him. 

 

The only thing stopping Peter from walking over there on shaky legs and asking to touch Steve’s abs is the knowledge that Tony is probably ten steps behind him and will, any minute now, come round the corner and catch Peter gaping at his best friend. 

 

He forces himself to tear his gaze away from Steve - and the way his muscles ripple under his skin, and the way he lets out little grunts with every rep he does - and hurries towards the bathroom. The erection that Peter had been trying to suppress all afternoon decides to come out with full force and he needs to get in the shower  _ right _ now; he doesn’t even have time to dash into his bedroom and grab some spare clothes because if he runs into Tony in this state, he’s fucked. It means he’ll have to return to his room in just a towel afterwards but right now he can’t think about anything other than the incredibly attractive half naked man in the next room.

 

Peter strips off his gross clothes and turns the shower on— that’s another reason he prefers this bathroom: the water is always hot straight away. He doesn’t have to wait for it to heat up, so he kicks his clothes out of the way and stands under the spray, tilting his head back and letting out a sigh. Steve Rogers will be the death of him.

 

Peter honestly does try to get through the whole shower without thinking about Steve. He’s not quite desperate enough to use cold water instead, but he does try and think about that time Ned snorted milkshake all over Peter’s bed, or that time MJ accidentally kicked Peter in the balls, instead of the way Steve smelt when Peter was wrapped around him like a koala on the bike.

 

But everything triggers the thought of Steve, and the image of him pulling himself up by one arm, his bicep bulging and his face contorted with the effort, and Peter can’t seem to help but think of Steve lifting him up like that and throwing him onto the bed, crawling on after him…

 

Whoops.

 

Peter suddenly feels way too hot, and it has nothing to do with the temperature of the water. All the pent up emotions from the day are catching up on him and Peter finds himself swallowing hard, inhaling deeply and running a hand down his chest. He imagines he can still smell Steve’s body - hard and hot pressed against his own - as he wraps a hand around his cock.

 

He thinks about Steve next door; he thinks about what might have happened had he gone in and interrupted Steve’s workout. He could have walked straight up to Steve, run a hand up his chest or sat straight down in the man’s lap. Steve in real life would have been confused, would probably have pushed him away Peter is sure, but Steve in his fantasies wraps a hand around Peter’s hip and pulls him closer.

 

The Steve of Peter’s fantasies kisses him slow and deep, working his way down Peter’s neck as he sucks bruises into the sensitive skin there. Peter shudders just thinking about it, pressing a hand against the shower wall for support. His whole body feels tense, like a live wire, and he jerks himself hard and fast. Tony is probably wondering what’s taking him so long.

 

He remembers the way Steve has opened the door to the diner open for Peter, the way he had sounded so confident when he had said, “it’s on me.” He thinks about the feeling of Steve’s fingers under his chin, soft on his face, and closes his eyes as he feels himself getting close.

 

Peter bites his lip, trying to keep himself from making any noises, but he can’t stop a soft moan from escaping as his breathing speeds up. He’s sure no one else will hear him over the sound of the shower running, so he lets go and allows himself to let out an embarrassing high pitched whine. His orgasm takes him completely by surprise; he lets his forehead fall against the shower wall and pants helplessly, trying to catch his breath.

 

Guilt takes over straight away; he’s never really jerked off to anyone he knows personally before and now he understands why people warn others against it. How is he going to be able to look Steve in the eye ever again after he just came to the mental image him?

 

He sighs, rinsing himself off quickly before turning the water off and stepping out of the shower. He really needs to get a grip.

  
  


***

 

After an intense workout session, Steve feels no closer to a resolve on his feelings for Peter. Apparently punching out your frustrations doesn’t mean that your romantic feelings will resolve themselves too. Feeling incredibly grimey and in desperate need of a shower, he heads towards the bathroom, grabbing a clean towel and a pair of boxer shorts on the way and almost tripping over a stray trainer lying in the middle of the hallway. Which must mean that Peter was here, but if he wasn’t in his room and he wasn’t in the living area, then where was he? The answer comes in the form of moan issued from the other side of the bathroom door, which hasn’t been shut properly. 

 

He freezes, realising that the moan must have come from Peter, who is in the shower. Naked. Which must mean that he’s…

 

Steve feels his dick start to harden in his gym shorts and curses internally.

 

This really wasn’t helping with the whole trying to convince himself that he doesn’t have a thing for Peter fiasco. He uses a towel to mop up some of the sweat from his neck and hair before throwing on a t-shirt and heading for his room. He needs to get out of here before Peter gets out of the bathroom and they run into each other, just so Peter wouldn’t realise he’s been in the other room this whole time listening to him jerk off.

 

This is what he tells himself, but it also might have something to do with the fact that he kind of needs to jerk off himself now, and the privacy of his own room may be better for that than Tony Stark’s communal gym.

 

He takes a swig from the water bottle at his side, closing his eyes just for a second, but that second is obviously enough for him to be distracted. He runs straight into Peter, who is only barely covered up by a towel wrapped around his waist and is still dripping wet.

 

_ For fuck’s sake, _ Steve thinks. Someone is seriously out to get him.

 

“Steve!” Peter stammers, eyes wide. His hair is falling over his forehead and Steve wants nothing more than to push it back and run his fingers through it. Thankfully he manages to contain himself, and keep from molesting the teenage boy in front of him.

 

“Peter, hey!” Steve replies, smiling easily like he isn’t a total creep who has been listening to Peter touch himself five minutes earlier.

 

“I just wanted to apologise for earlier.” Peter tells him earnestly. Steve flushes, cheeks turning bright red as his mind jumps to ‘earlier’ when Peter was moaning in the shower. That can’t be what he’s talking about, surely? And why would he be apologising to Steve? Unless…

 

“You know, Tony freaking out and all?” Peter clarifies after seeing Steve’s deer-in-the-headlights expression. “Lecturing you? I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

 

“Oh!” Steve exhales. “You don’t need to apologise. I deserved it for kidnapping you like that. Sorry for, uh, lying to you by the way.” He adds sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Desperately hoping that his hard-on isn’t noticeable too through his shorts. 

 

He must have jinxed it though, because he sees Peter look down, and his eyes widen at what must be the obvious bulge in his pants. 

 

“I, uh, I --” Steve stammers, totally at a loss for what to say, and completely destroying any chance at pretending that it wasn’t there.

 

“I really enjoyed spending time with you today!” Peter blurts out, stepping closer to Steve without really thinking about it. Steve follows the movement with his eyes and Peter can’t help but notice his pupils dilate. Steve’s heart is hammering against his chest and he can’t decide whether he’s terrified or excited. A mixture of the both, he thinks. Steve is leaning towards him and the atmosphere between them has suddenly gotten heavy; Steve is just considering actually kissing the boy when he hears a loud bang from the living room, followed by a “FUCK!”, and the two spring apart, blinking like a bright light has just been shone into their eyes. 

 

“PETER! How many times do I have to tell you to tidy up your fucking shoes?” bellows Tony as he limps into the hallway, “I almost just broke the bloody coffee table tripping over your dumb Nikes!”

 

Peter lets out a snort before clamping a hand over his mouth and Steve has to try not to laugh at the look on Tony’s outraged face.

 

“Whoops, sorry Tony, I’ll um, I’ll tidy them up in a minute, I just need to get dressed?” Peter responds, holding back his giggles.

 

Steve watches him go into his room, a bead of water rolling down his lean back, and wonders just what on earth he is getting himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)))) hopefully that gave you guys a bit of a flavour of what's to come... Tony is nOT going to be impressed.
> 
> Thank you for reading <3


	6. Chapter Six: In which Steve and Peter honk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers, 
> 
> Sorry it’s been so long !!! But your patience has been rewarded ... enjoy :))

After that, it feels like everywhere Peter goes Steve is somewhere not far behind him. Maybe from Steve’s point of view it seemed like Peter was stalking him, but for Peter he can’t seem to escape the man. There must be hundreds of rooms in the Tower and every single one is full of references to Steve.

 

Peter tends to stay away from the gym anyway - if Tony saw him in there he’d mock him relentlessly - but now he has to take a whole different flight of stairs to avoid the room altogether lest he sees Steve half naked again and has the sudden urge to jerk himself off. Again.

 

The kitchen is strictly out of bounds as well, because Steve seems to be there  _ all the time.  _ It must be all the workouts he’s doing all the time, because he’s always eating and his body always looks like it’s been sculpted out of marble, each ab chiseled to perfection. Peter has to sneak his meals into his room, checking each hallway before dashing to the fridge, grabbing whatever Tony has helpfully left him, and juggling it all in his arms on his way back to his bedroom.

 

Tony has almost definitely figured out something is up, but luckily for Peter the lab is somewhere Steve definitely won’t be, so he can relax whilst he’s working. He stays there for hours, not wanting to leave and run into Steve again only to risk having the man tell him he’s not interested, that Peter is just some nerdy kid and why would someone like Steve ever want someone like him?

 

This plan works solidly the first two weekends, but by the third Steve knows that something is up. Peter was working in the lab, finishing off his homework when he was rudely interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. He jerks backwards, pulling off his headphones at the yelp that he hears above the pounding music in his ears. He spins around to see Steve grimacing and rubbing his foot.

 

Peter is an incredibly intelligent human being. He is a mature young adult who lives with his billionaire inventor father figure half the time. So, of course, the first witty comment out of his mouth is, “Fuck!”

 

Steve’s eyebrows rise, “Language!”

 

Peter feels a blush spread down his neck, and swallows, “So, um, what can I do for you, Steve?”

 

_ What can I do for you? How old are you, 70? God, Peter, get it together! _

 

“I mean, not that I’d do anything for you!” Peter blurts out, and then instantly regrets it because it wasn’t weird until he made it weird, was it. “I mean, I would if you asked me for a favour! You can come to me for a favour anytime Steve! Unless it’s something to do with Tony, because I really don’t think I could try and overthrow Stark Industries or anything like that. Not that I’m assuming that that’s what you want me to do! Or kill Ned, I could never murder anyone, sorry, I just – um… hi?”

 

Steve blinks at him dumbly for a second like he’s trying to process what Peter just said before bursting into laughter. To be honest, not even Peter is sure what Peter just said, but Steve is grinning at the horrified expression slowly spreading over Peter’s face, so maybe he hasn’t just irreparably embarrassed himself in front of his crush.

 

“Why on earth would I want you to murder someone?” Steve laughs, the corners of his eyes creasing adorably, “Actually, don’t answer that. You could probably come up with a few reasons and I’d like to have plausible deniability if you ever do end up becoming a mass murderer.”

 

Now it’s Peter’s turn to stand and swallow nervously with no idea what to say. Steve doesn’t seem mad at him, so maybe the almost-kiss was only in Peter’s head? Maybe he’s just projecting his own desires onto the world around him like a sad little high school dweeb.

 

“Listen, Peter,” Steve starts, with a self depreciative sigh, and Peter’s stomach sinks. Steve is about to tell him why they shouldn’t be together or why he would never be interested in a lame teenager like him and how the ‘kiss’ was just Peter’s horny hormonal brain making him see what he wanted to see. He can’t let that happen.

 

“Steve, wait,” Peter interrupts, no plan at all for what he’s going to say, “I can’t stop thinking about the other week, you have incredibly sexy abs.” he ends up blurting out, slapping a hand over his mouth in surprise.

 

“No, I didn’t mean that.” He continues. “I did - you do have sexy abs, I mean - but that’s not the point. God, why is this so hard? I  _ like _ you, Steve. I think you’re really funny and smart and sexy and cool and I know I’m just some dumb teenager who you’re probably terrified of. I’m not crazy, I swear, and I’m not just horny, either, honestly. Even if you do have arms sculpted by God, cause, there has to be a God. People aren’t allowed to be as good-looking as you are, it’s a crime against nature.”

 

Steve isn’t saying anything and Peter is sort of wishing he could spontaneously chew off his own tongue or something equally dramatic that would accurately show Steve the levels of his humiliation. He is just opening his mouth again to begin on another heart stopping rant when Steve exhales quickly and shakes his head a little like he can’t believe he’s doing this and –

 

And kisses him. Steve leans down, cups Peter’s cheek with one of his massive hands and  _ kisses him _ .

 

Kissing Steve is fucking incredible, Peter discovers, even though he has no clue what he’s doing. Their mouths are closed because Peter was taken completely off guard just then but the feeling of Steve’s soft lips against his own is just as incredible as if their mouths had been open. Steve’s tongue traces Peter’s bottom lip and captures it between his teeth lightly, setting Peter’s heart racing unstoppably. 

 

When they break apart, their faces are still inches apart and Peter can feel Steve’s warm breath fanning against his face. He doesn’t even want to blink, lest this is all just a crazy wet dream of some sort and if he closes his eyes, even for half a second, it’ll all disappear. Peter doesn’t think he could stand it if he found out what Steve’s lips felt like and then had it all snatched away like it was all some cruel cosmic joke.

 

But then Steve is cupping Peter’s cheek with his palm, so big and warm and soft and comforting, urging Peter forward until their lips are meeting in a mess of teeth and tongue. Peter whines high pitched in the back of his throat, pressing himself closer in an attempt to climb Steve’s body. 

 

Steve walks Peter back until the backs of his thighs are pressed up against the blunt edge of the worktop; not wanting to break away from Steve’s mouth, he feels around blindly with his hand before hopping onto the desk behind him. Steve has to duck his neck a little but he does so unhesitatingly, fucking his tongue into Peter’s mouth until Peter thinks he might actually pass out.

 

Almost instinctively, Peter hooks his legs over Steve’s waist and attempts to draw him closer, whimpering into the kiss. Peter is hard - there’s no point hiding it, and besides, he doesn’t think he has enough brain power to even try at this point - and his cock is pressed against Steve’s stomach. Peter can literally feel his abs through two layers of clothing. 

 

His brain might white out a bit here, because when it comes back online Steve is sliding a hand up the outside of his thigh and  _ shit _ , this is actually happening, something is actually happening, are they actually going to–

 

JARVIS’ voice rings out loud and clear over the speaker system Tony has set up, startling them both so badly that Peter’s hand spasms and knocks over a bottle of oil that was balancing on the edge of the lab table.

 

“Fuck!” Peter chokes out, scrambling off the desk and avoiding looking at Steve, because Steve’s lips are red and kiss bitten and if Peter looks at him for too long the he won’t be able to pull away, despite JARVIS telling them that Tony is on his way.

 

“Peter–” Steve starts, looking mildly shell shocked at what just happened. He looks how Peter feels, and he hopes that his face isn’t is obvious as that because if Tony walks in and sees them both looking horribly suspicious, as oblivious as he is, he’ll question them for sure.

 

“Later!” Peter tells him with confidence he doesn’t really feel. In reality, his heart is beating erratically and his face wants to split into a massive grin, but he can already hear Tony’s footsteps echoing down the hall so he holds himself back, doesn’t jump on Steve like he wants to.

 

“Peter? Is everything okay in here? Why are you yelli-- oh my god you’ve done it again, how many times do I have to tell you to not spill oil?” Tony demands, 

 

Peter opens his mouth but, somehow unsurprisingly, Steve steps forward before he can defend himself.

 

“Ah, sorry Tony.” He offers, the picture of contrition. Peter almost snorts, his mind replaying the feeling of Steve’s lips on his. “That one’s on me.”

 

Tony turns to glare at him, apparently not yet over the whole ‘you abducted my makeshift son’ argument. Peter swallows, not wanting to ever be on the receiving end of that glare.

 

“You steal my protégé,” He says icily. “And then you spill my oil?”

  
_ For fuck’s sake _ , Peter thinks. His life is a meme

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Let us know what you thought in the comments below ;)) (were not praise thots or anything promise) 
> 
> Obnoxiousq and FantasySwap <3


	7. Chapter Seven: In which a cute handjob occurs

Steve leaves the lab shortly after Tony’s passive (aggressive) aggressive comment, _probably due to all of Tony’s death stares_ , Peter thinks to himself. He attempts to continue working, but his mind is so full of the kiss they just shared, and the feeling of Steve’s strong hands on him, and how his lips were mildly chapped, and how his stubble scratched pleasantly on Peter’s skin. And now Peter has a boner, and the electrical device in front of him is smoking violently while he absent-mindedly pours a glass of water on it.

 

“Peter? PETER!” shouts Tony, concern in his voice, “What has gotten into you recently? There’s no way you’re getting any good work done today, come back tomorrow after you’ve had a good night’s sleep.” He stares intently at Peter, who gazes back dreamily, mind equal parts aroused and panicking.

 

His erection now starting to disappear, he wanders out of the lab and towards the kitchen. He’s not exactly hungry, but if he can pass the time until he actually has to go to sleep by searching out pizza, then he is satisfied.

 

Except when he actually _gets_ to the kitchen he stops mid step because… there’s Steve with his back to Peter, looking as attractive as always. It doesn’t look like he’s noticed Peter, and for a minute he thinks maybe he can turn around and sneak out silently without being spotted.

 

Of course though, because it’s Peter, it absolutely doesn’t work out like that.

 

He ends up tripping over his own ankle and lands in a pile of uncoordinated humiliation on the kitchen floor, staring up with wide eyes as Steve looks down at him quizzically.

 

“Peter?” He asks, looking down at the apple in his hands and carefully putting it to the side like Peter might find a way to trip over that as well. “Are you… okay?”

 

“Totally!” Peter cries, scrambling upright again and dusting himself off, looking like a very mature, sophisticated individual. “Yep, of course. I’m great.”

 

“Right…” Steve half smiles, the corners of his lips twitching up. Then he must realise how close they are - because Peter stood up and suddenly they were standing toe to toe - and his smile falters a little. Peter just wants to kiss him, but when he leans forward ever so slightly he notices the look on Steve’s face.

 

“Peter?” Steve asks, frowning slightly like he’s already imagining all the things that could go wrong. He looks guilty, but the type of guilty that comes from not feeling guilty. Peter has had enough of the confusion and the tension whenever he’s around Steve, the nagging sense of anticipation. He wants action, he wants answers, he wants _something_.

 

“What are you—” Steve starts. Peter thinks he might have been asking what he’s doing there, but Peter cuts him off halfway through by launching himself at the man and pressing their lips together. Steve lets out a very unrefined squeak and for a brief second, Peter is terrified that he’s made a mistake. What if he’s been reading signals wrong this whole time, and Steve actually wants nothing to do with him? What if Steve is going to push him away and tell Tony that Peter came onto him? He’d never be able to look Tony in the eye ever again.

 

But then Steve’s lips are moving, soft and warm against his own, and Peter lets out a sigh he hadn’t realised he was holding. As Steve grips his hands on Peter’s waist, hard, he realises that his hands are clenched against Steve’s chest in an incredibly not-adult-and-sexy way, so he moves them to loop around Steve’s neck, one hand moving up to thread into his soft hair. He pulls on it gently as one of Steve’s fingers grazes the bare skin above his waistband and Steve moans gently, his grip tightening on Peter’s waist.

 

“We really shouldn’t.” Steve mumbles against Peter’s lips, not sounding very happy about that at all. Even as he says it, his fingertips brush further up Peter’s back, lifting his T-Shirt. Goosebumps pop up wherever Steve touches Peter, and he presses into the contact as much as he can.

 

“We absolutely should,” Peter replies, matter of fact, as he tugs Steve’s bottom lip playfully between his teeth. Steve hisses and then his hands are on Peter’s hips, lifting him up with ease and planting him on the kitchen counter; he gets a hand on each of Peter’s knees and spreads his legs, moving closer to stand in between them and tug Peter down into another wet, messy kiss.

 

“Tony will find out.” Steve gasps, but when Peter lifts his arms over his head he helps tug the shirt off and tosses it somewhere behind them. Peter hooks an ankle behind Steve’s thigh and tugs him forward so that they’re pressed chest to chest, and his dick strains against the zipper of his jeans. He desperately wants Steve to just _touch him._

 

“Please don’t talk about Tony right now,” Peter complains, and then reaches out to grab Steve’s wrist. With trembling hands he guides Steve’s palm against the crotch of his trousers and applies pressure; Steve, thankfully, doesn’t talk any more about Peter’s father figure and instead ducks down to nip his earlobe, sending a shiver down Peter’s spine. Steve’s fingers fumble with Peter’s zip as he whispers, “are you sure you want to do this? We can stop any time.”

 

“God, I’m so sure. Please, Steve, just—” He cuts off sharply when Steve kisses him, popping the button and slipping his hand easily inside Peter’s boxers. It’s the first time anyone has ever touched him apart from himself and it feels so good that he momentarily looses control of his body and slams his head back against the cupboard behind him. Then he’s reaching up to grip the short strands of hair at the back of Steve’s neck as the man strokes him once, gently, before setting a faster pace.

 

Peter knows it isn’t going to last long - he’s seventeen, and a virgin, and Steve is so painfully attractive - but he isn’t expecting to be quite so close already. Steve must have done this before because he moves so fluidly, thumbing the head of Peter’s dick on every upstroke and sliding a hand up the outside of his thigh when his legs start to shake.

 

“Steve–” Peter whines, fingernails digging into Steve’s upper arm painfully. That’s all he has time to do before he’s squeezing his eyes shut and shuddering; he comes over Steve’s fingers and leans his forehead against the man’s chest as he catches his breath.

 

“Okay?” Steve asks when Peter has enough autonomy to look up at him. He nods, a dopey grin on his face, but when his hand moves towards the hard outline of Steve’s dick the man catches his wrist and brings it to his mouth, kissing Peter’s knuckles.

 

“You don’t have to do that.” Steve tells him, a small smile on his face.

 

“What?” Peter asks, confused. “But–”

 

“This was about you, Peter,” Steve interrupts.

 

Peter nods, body slipping off the counter like jelly, and he has to catch himself against Steve’s chest for support. No great difficulty, of course.

 

“Are you gonna freak out on me?” Peter asks, cheek smushed to Steve’s chest. He feels the man inhale and exhale deeply before he replies.

 

“Maybe,” He says.

 

Peter can deal with a maybe.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)))))

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to grilledcheesing’s [You Got Heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6959620/chapters/15867535) which inspired us to “try” and write our own fic… if any of you know any excellent fics for Peter/Steve comment their names below and we’ll tag one every chapter to help spread the Steve/Peter love 
> 
> Let us know what you think! <3


End file.
